The Sacred in Baldwin’s “Go Tell it on the Mountain”

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The Sacred in Baldwin’s "Go Tell it on the Mountain"
The etymology of the word sacred originates from the Latin word
sacer
, meaning holy. From
sacer
came
sacrare
, meaning to devote. The word in Middle English eventually became
sacren
, or to consecrate (Kluge). Thus, etymologically, the sacred is whatever has been devoted to God. The theme of the sacred infuses Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain from beginning to end. However, the novel’s conception of the sacred is broad; it moves past the central tenets of Christianity to embrace numerous elements of ordinary life.
Consecration takes place on several levels in the novel. First, consider Baldwin’s description of the transformation of what had been a secular storefront in Harlem to a...